Vitor Belfort To Retire After Next Fight

Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Vitor Belfort suffered a first round TKO loss to Kelvin Gastelum in the main event of UFC Fight Night 106.

Having now suffered his third straight loss, the legendary Brazilian fighter will be retiring after his next fight.

“I was confident I was going to knock him out, and everything happened in reverse,” Belfort said after the event. “But that’s it. We have to reinvent ourselves, and it won’t be the first, it won’t be the last. I mean, I hope it is the last, because in July, I want to do the last fight of my contract. I think it’s my time to finish my chapter in this as a professional fighter. I think that my body is not the same to train – a lot of pain. It’s over 14 surgeries that I’ve done. I think I’ve left everything inside the octagon – it wasn’t in the best way. I’m sad not to give this win to my fans, but it’s part of it. The sport is this way.”

The other two losses Belfort suffered during this losing streak came to Gegard Mousasi and Ronaldo Souza. When Belfort does have his retirement fight, it will come with one request from the fighter.

“I don’t want to fight in Rio against a Brazilian,” he said.

Belfort won the UFC Light Heavyweight Title by defeating Randy Couture at UFC 46 in 2004.